You’ve noticed your colleague Jules is always silent in group discussions, and recently they’ve been missing meetings altogether. They return with great ideas later, but always avoid the live discussion. You’re wondering how to support them.
What questions could you ask Jules to open the door to potential adjustments?
Marina gets overwhelmed by incoming emails. She prefers processing one task at a time, but the team often uses group threads with rapid back-and-forth messages. She’s never said anything, but seems visibly stressed when a Teams notification comes in.
What questions could invite Marina to share what communication style works best for her?
Jasper is a spreadsheet wizard, but he finds verbal instructions confusing and tends to make a lot of mistakes without written guidance.
What questions could help you and Jasper discover what might support him to work at his best?
Morgan is great at fine-detail tasks and problem-solving, but they’re also highly sensitive to sound and smell, and get anxious about asking for what they need, especially when overwhelmed. The team is unsure how to support them without making assumptions.
How might you explore what support Morgan might want, without focusing on the "problem"?
Problem-Focused vs Solution-Focused Questions
Problem-focused question (diagnosing the cause):
“Why are you late for morning meetings so often?”
Solution-focused question (discovering possible solutions):
“What could make morning meetings easier for you?”
Features of Solution-Focused Questions
- Are future-focused, or look for clues from the past that can be used in the future
- “What might help in the future?”
- “What could we try next time?”
- “Was there anything that helped last time?”
- “Have you found any useful adjustments in past roles we could consider here?”
- Have an underlying goal of discovering what might help (rather than diagnosing the cause of the problem)
- “What might make this more manageable?”
- “What makes this easier or harder for you?”
- “If we could redesign one process to make it more inclusive, what would you change?”
- Assume the person has insight into what helps them
- “Are there specific instructions, tools, or formats that help you absorb information more easily?”
- “What would your ideal solution be?”
- “What's one thing you wish others better understood about how you work best?”
- Are practical and specific
- “What part of this task drains your energy most, and how could we approach it differently?”
- “What's one small change we could make to this?”
- “What would a ‘just right’ level of structure or autonomy look like for you?”
Magic Ingredients
- Curiosity and kindness
- “What makes this easier or harder for you?”
- “What kind of environment helps you do your best work?”
- A focus on small changes
- “If we made one tweak to this process, what would help most?”
- “What's one small change we could try?”
- Amplifying strengths
- “What helps you feel at your best?”
- “What's working well right now that we can build on?”
- “How could we make the most of your curiosity/expertise/empathy/creativity in this task?”
- Permission to experiment
- “What's something you haven’t tried yet?”
- “What are the possibilities?”
- Looking for exceptions to learn from
- “Are any parts of this already easy, and what can we learn from that?”
- “Can you think of any times this has felt more manageable? What was different?”
Example Solution-Focused Questions
- “What does a good day at work look like for you?”
- “What helps you stay focused or feel calm during the day?”
- “If we could tweak just one thing to make your work easier or less stressful, what would it be?”
- “What kind of environment helps you do your best work?”
- “What communication styles or tools work best for you?”
- “If we were to check in on how things are going, what would be the most helpful way to do that?”
- “Have you found any useful adjustments or strategies in past roles that we could consider here?”
- “What’s working well right now that we can build on?”
- “When things go well, what’s different about the situation?”
- “What have you already tried, and what did you notice?”
- “What would you like to happen instead?”
- “How will you know this adjustment or approach is working for you?”
- “What’s the next small step we could try?”
- “What part of your workload drains your energy most, and how could we approach it differently?”
- “What’s one thing you wish others better understood about how you work best?”
- “Are there times of day when you feel more productive or focused?”
- “Are there specific instructions, tools, or formats that help you absorb information more easily?”
- “If we could redesign one meeting or process to make it more inclusive, what would you change?”
- “What would a ‘just right’ level of structure or autonomy look like for you?”
- “What makes this easier or harder for you?”
- “What conditions help you do your best work?”
- “What might make this more manageable?”
- “What would your ideal, magical solution look like, and is there any part of that we could incorporate?”
- “If this task was 10% easier, what would that look like?”
- “What helps you feel at your best?”
- “What parts of this do you feel most confident about already?”
- “How could we make the most of your curiosity/expertise/empathy/creativity in this task?”
- “Are any parts of this already easy, and what can we learn from that?”
- “Can you think of any times this has felt more manageable? What was different?”